Of Demons and Dancers
by LaughingDeath77
Summary: What if you were the only person to know about monsters? Her friends have their duties, now Tea has hers. Love and war walk hand in hand.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own YUGIOH or any of its characters.

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Tea cried as she sped down the empty streets darkened by twilight. How could they say that about her? Especially behind her back, too. Wheeling about the corner, her vision blurred as she recalled the things she had overheard at the Gameshop.

They had been getting together for the anniversary of the beginning of their friendship. Due to the stormy weather, Tea had been delayed for thirty minutes. By the time she had arrived, the rest were already there. Tea clutched the cake to her chest and decided to sneak up on them, payback for all the times Joey had crept up on her. Grinning, she crept to the door and was about to leap in when she discerned from within her name being mentioned. Biting her lip, Tea deliberated on whether to eavesdrop or not. It couldn't hurt just this once, could it?

"......Seriously Yami, we just can't let her in on this one." Woah, that was Tristan. But who and what did he refer to?

"I understand what you're saying, Tristan. This particular event is something she must be excluded from." Now Yami...Well that was the what answered at least.

Yugi was next. "I have to agree with you guys. This is just way too dangerous and important." Behind the door, Tea blinked in surprise. Danger? Why hadn't they told her? Unless.....but no, no, they would never do something like that to-

"Tea simply isn't strong enough to come with us on this one. She can't duel, she isn't physically capable of doing much other than running away, and she doesn't have the mental fortitude for this kind of thing." Her eyes wide open and glazed, Tea felt her world shudder to a halt.

"Besides, she can't even do anything to help us. Sure, she's our friend, but she would just hold us back, and we can't afford that. It's becoming annoying to have to look out for her all the time". This couldn't be happening. Tea gasped for air as though drowning. Joey, Joey hadn't said anything, surely he would speak up for her, right?

"So we're agreed then. Tea gets left out of this one. It's for the best, when it comes to the perilous stuff like this, she's not good for much except being something of a dead weight. She would probably only muddle everything up again, just like all those times before." From her concealed position, Tea's breath hitched, and her tears splattered to the ground alongside the first raindrops. She dropped the cake with a thump muffled by thunder and fled from the shop, pursued by the demons of betrayal.

Now, an hour later, her pace hadn't slackened as she sprinted haphazardly through the city. Nor had her tears ceased, and the rain still vengefully tore down from the blackened skies, drenching her thoroughly. Spotting a bench through her blurred vision, Tea halted her mad dash and slowly shuffled her way to it. Sinking down onto the cold planks, she curled herself into a dripping ball of grief and forced her last, shuddering sobs from her body. Utterly miserable, Tea lifted her head slightly to examine the street she found herself on. It was a rather decrepit place, a shutdown factory dominated one side of the crumbling asphalt path while the other emptily flaunted small, shriveled houses that seemed to shrink in on themselves. With a groan, Tea concluded that not only was she soaking, desolate, and bereaved but was also lost, putting a cherry on her metaphorical ice cream cone of bitter sorrow.

"Well, I guess I've got to find my own way out of this one." Tea sighed as she slowly stood up. 'This time', she thought, 'I can't depend on my friends to come for me.' She slogged through the rivulets of water rushing down the streets, and a few last tears escaped her watery lashes as she tilted her head towards the dark turmoil of clouds overhead. 'This time', a voice whispered in her head with the muted quality of the undeniably true, 'I don't think I want them too.'

At that revelation, Tea abruptly halted. Standing stock still in the midst of the sky's downpour, she mulled this insight over. She knew she didn't want her friends to come for her, but the question still lingered, why? There was a feeling of having been betrayed, a feeling so keen it ripped through her heart and left her gasping for air, but there was something else too. Something new, slowly unfurling within her mind poked a hesitant but irrevocable tendril into the forefront of her mind. A deep, shivering breath inflating her lungs, Tea realized something. 'I want to be able to look after myself. I mean, it's not like I'm incapable now, or as useless as ....they claimed me to be, but it's true that in the past I've always had to depend on them in the end.' Her brows furrowed and her pearly teeth worried her lower lips as she contemplated. 'But then again, that's not quite true either. I've never really had the chance to do anything. It was the same each time, when things reached a certain level of danger, the guys headed out on their own, and I was left behind as the extra wheel. Why did everyone simply permit this sequence to develop? Why did I?' Now befuddled, Tea stood heedless of the world for long moments, gazing slack jawed into the rain. 'But then again, I could never do anything. I was never a duelist, just a dancer.

Finally, she extricated herself from her musings, still acutely painful from her experience. Shaking her head, Tea re-focused on her current predicament, resolving to further her speculations later. Slogging through the puddles, she ambled down the street in search of a pay phone. Hopefully her father would still be home so she could receive directions, although she winced at the thought of the repercussions he surely would dole out.

Tea scowled, an uncommon expression for her, but one she was becoming increasingly accustomed to. That man didn't have the right to be disciplinary, not when he preferred the company of his ingratiating girlfriends that were, on foul occasions, less than half his age.

Tea maintained her fury for a few more cherished moments, but shook the bitter thoughts from her mind soon. 'I still remember how hard he took it when Mom......well..... he really loved her, and I guess he's trying to fill the hole she left in his very being.'

Crossing in front of a windowed store, Tea contemplated her countenance. Her sky-blue eyes were slightly puffy from the weeping, and her brown hair mussed and drenched, tendrils adhered to her face and neck from the rain. 'That I so resemble mom must be painful for him too.... there's nothing left of her to help h-Finally! A blessed phone!'

Hurriedly, she slouched her way to the little black box of salvation, only to groan in disappointment as she realized she had no coin on her, not even a measly penny. Groaning in frustration, she almost sank to her knees right there on the gritty sidewalk.

Could this day get any worse?

About to resign herself to groping around in the gutters for fallen change, she stopped as her ears detected soft footsteps approaching. Turning, she caught sight of a very peculiar person. They were so bundled up that she could discern nothing of their shape or gender. A floppy hat deflected the worst of the skies deluge, tilted downwards to nearly meet an enormous scarf circling an unseen neck, which similarly met a decrepit, oversized trench coat that blurred the person's physique all the way to their knees. Those appendages in turn were eaten by a pair of ragged jeans. Immense shoes tapped oddly lightly against the pavement, belying the person's large size. Patched shoulders slumped against the skies barrage, and hands hid from the world in pockets. Nothing at all could be seen of the other's face, only a deep shadow warped by the sick gleam of a nearby lamp.

Looming ominously through the rain sliced night, the faceless person drew nearer, and Tea knew she should have been afraid. But in her harried state of mind and current destitution, she gave her intuition no heed and instead rushed up to the obscured one, peering anxiously up into their invisible face while babbling out her predicament.

"Hi, look, I'm really sorry to have to ask you this- believe me, you don't know how sorry I am- but do you have any spare-!"

The wan glow of the lamp and her increased proximity finally penetrated the shadows embracing the other's face. She stifled a scream as a monstrous mouth cracked open, and five gleaming red eyes stared back into her own.

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Hi, this is my second fanfic story, and I would love any suggestions, constructive criticism, or response in general. ......That was a very robotic comment; I need to go ascertain whether I'm becoming a mutant metal person.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, sorry that this has taken so long. I had three chapters of this already written but then my computer got a virus. By the way, I do NOT intend for this to be a horror. Hope this makes up for my abscence!

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Tea scrambled back furiously. The thing before her let out a low hiss saturated with amusement and hunger. Oh lord, she thought distantly, it had taken its hands out of its pockets, and there were claws longer than her fingers, and it was coming after her. Entirely new tears filled her eyes, tears inspired by terror. The thing swiped at her, and she dropped out of range, flinging herself to her knees as if in supplication. She crawled away, but the thing moved with a swiftness unusual for its size, and a heavy boot pressed her to the ground. Thinking quickly, she scrunched herself into a ball and used her position as leverage to fling herself from beneath it.

The red eyes followed her movements languidly. One distorted hand shot down, seizing her arm, and Tea really did scream as her skin tore and ripped under its claws. With her free hand, she struck at its head, only to recoil with a yell. She stared at her bleeding palm in disbelief. Slowly, the hat fell off the head of her captor, revealing long spikes that waved menacingly. For the first time, the top portion of its face was clear, and Tea almost fainted as she realized it had no skin. Bone glistened wetly as the scarlet eyes glared down at her. It's teeth were not, surprisingly, sharp, but they were massive and thick, colored like granite and presumably as hard. Any thing unfortunate enough to get caught in them would not be coming back out alive.

It laughed at her, drawing her closer. Blue eyes dilated in fright, Tea did what any girl would: kicked it where the sun don't shine and bolted. Giving a bone jarring squeal of rage, the monstrosity darted after her.

'Think Tea', the girl admonished herself. 'What would Yami do?' Claws dug onto her back; she watched in transfixed terror as they emerged, glistening, on the other side of her shoulder. The thing was absolutely silent in its pursuit, no warning preceded the pain. She pushed her quivering legs faster, ripping free in the process. Choking back a sob, she continued her flight through the dirty, unfamiliar streets. 'It's no good, she wailed mentally, 'I don't have the ability to do what he could in this situation.'

What would Joey do? Make some weird noise then charge while screaming and crying the whole time before miraculously coming out on top. Tristan? Ditto. And Tea knew she could not duplicate their actions either. Bakura would summon a monster of his own, Marik would go all psychotic.

Tea muffled a sob. She couldn't do anything her friends could. No wonder they wanted me to stay behind, she thought.

A sudden blow lifted her off the ground and slammed her into a wall. She coughed weakly, tasting salty liquid. She raised her hand to her mouth. It came away painted red.

She struggled to get her balance back and kept on running.

The buildings became more and more broken down as she continued. Walls were smashed in; windows shattered and roofs crumbling. The road was paved with irregular cobblestones which caught at her feet. She had been running for a long time, or at least she thought she had, but everything was a blur and the clouds covering the sky never gave away their secrets. Whether for a long time or a short time, she had been running, accumulating more and more wounds on her back as her breath became more and more ragged.

If she knew one thing, it was that the street couldn't go on forever. Hearing a whistling sound behind her, she ducked, and felt claws tangle in her hair. Whimpering, Tea threw herself forward, feeling her hair rip. She spared a look back. The thing had its enormous mouth open in what could only be a laugh, a huge hunk of her hair caught in its grasp. Purely emotional pain welled up in her then, irrational, considering her dire situation, but keen as a knife.

No street goes on forever. Tea took a chance, gambled with her life as she shot down a side alley. When a brick wall confronted her at the end of it, she lost the bet.

It came at her in earnest then, sensing its troublesome prey had been cornered. Eyes wide and glazed, Tea watched it come.

Please, she thought, watching it raise its twisted hand, I don't want this to be the last thing I ever see.

The hand came down.

...........................................................................

Miles away, the door of a certain game shop opened to a soggy cake on the stoop.

"What the- This is Tea's!" A blond boy exclaimed.

Young teens poured out onto the sidewalk, calling the name of a person much too far away to hear.

...................................................................................................

The hand tore across her chest and stomach. If she had not thrown herself back at the last moment, it would have been a fatal wound. Blood coursed in vibrant red stripes down her body, and she stumbled backwards until her back hit the wall, pain in her vibrant eyes.

No, she thought dazedly. I don't want to die.

The monster before her laughed again, rasping and deep. It waved her hair in front of her face, then threw it in the gutter. One step, two step, and it stared down at her, gnashing its enormous teeth.

I don't want to die.

With a casual swipe, it knocked her to the ground. Even through the ringing in her head, Tea could hear its laughter.

I don't want to die.

It laughed and laughed, tilting her head up with one long claw. Numbly, Tea met its eyes. It was laughing, because it found her pain and fear funny.

"You can't make me die!!!" Tea screamed at it. She grabbed its claws with one hand, shrieking as she did, then threw all her weight against it. A loud snap preceded the beast's screech of agony. It swung at her, and Tea took a glancing blow before going low and ramming her head into its stomach.

It stumbled back. Tea, breathing hard, followed through with a kick to its knee.

Tea did not have shadow powers, or years of experience brawling on the streets. She could not throw a punch, or mystically mess with someone's mind. She was a school girl who had somehow gotten involved in another's adventure, but had no real place there.

But she had a dream of her own, and she spent years honing her body to support that dream. She labored long hours, every day, flexing her muscles and strengthening them along with her will.

When Tea kicked, those years of work were behind her strike, and the monster's leg snapped like a twig. It fell heavily, a deep whine escaping its throat.

Tea backed away, uncertain of whether or not to run. Would it come after her again? Just as she decided to flee, a hand snaked out and caught her ankle. Even with an arm and leg broken, the creature still struggled after her, and she took a moment to be aghast once more at its monstrous determination, to get up, to pursue her, to kill her. It was trying to lift itself off the ground, she saw, and in a minute it might succeed.

Tea tried to rip her ankle away, but its grip proved too powerful: the only result came in new lacerations on her leg.

I don't want to do this, she thought at it, staring in its beady eyes.

"Let me go." she ordered. It tightened its grasp until she hissed in pain, and it laughed again, softer but no less ugly.

I don't want to do this, she thought miserably, and she may have whispered it, but only the rain, coursing down her bloody back, could tell.

The girl grit her teeth. Preparing herself for pain, she raised her free foot and stomped on her captor's head. She screeched as the spikes that adorned its cranium penetrated her foot, one of them passing all the way through. Stubborn though, she raised it again and slammed it down. A noticeable shudder passed along the creature then, and its hand relaxed around her ankle.

Trembling, Tea sucked in a deep wavering breath. She jumped and kicked down at the things head. A gruesome crack sounded, and Tea tried her hardest not to look at the way its skull was now lumped and distorted, the way its skin had torn, letting lose a dark purple fluid.

The spikes on its head flopped over listlessly.

Horrified, Tea dropped to her knees beside the body, overwrought by emotion.

"I didn't want to kill it!" She cried. Her stomach churned, and she was sick right there. She staggered out of the alley, the bloodflow from her wounds slowing, but her head reeling.

"I never wanted to kill!" Tea wailed into the raining night, slowly starting to run once more.

Her ragged form disappeared into the darkness.

..................................................................................................................................

Miles away, Yugi and the gang returned dripping into the Game shop.

"I suppose she decided to go home after hearing us." Yami slouched on the couch, shaking the water out of his five week old hair. Even after Yugi defeated him, he was not able to lay in peace. A force unknown to even Ishizu had brought him back, this time in his own body. Only days later, an mysterious invitation to an exclusive duelling event had been left outside the shop.

They would be leaving for it tomorrow afternoon. He sighed, shaking his head again- a bit carelessly, as water drops bombarded the others and earned him dirty looks and a loud 'Hey!'-in dismay. Hopefully matters could be patched up with their brunette friend in time.

"Really, though," Joey leaned back against the counter thoughtfully, after, of course, shoving Tristan out of the way. "Don't cha think she's over reacting?"

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Tea cried and ran, ran, ran, ran and cried, until the ground bucked up beneath her and she fell into a darkness even more impenetrable than the sky.

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That's it for chap. 2! Thanks for reading; please comment!


	3. Chapter 3

When Tea woke, it was to dirt in her mouth and dried blood in her eyes. She blinked, holding her hand up against the oppressive morning sun.

She found herself staring at the bloody wounds on it. Slowly, she sat up, turning over to her palm and realizing that the gouges passed all the way through her hand.

Pain flooded through her then, and its coarse flow through her veins resurrected the memories of last night. She dry-heaved, fingers on her other hand pulling frantically at grass.

'I'm a murderer,' Tea thought blankly. 'I murdered the thing that wanted to murder me.'

She sat up slowly, feeling every little ache in her poor body scream out raucous protest. She was situated beneath a vast oak tree in a park that she vaguely remembered stumbling into last night. Dancing through the green summer leaves, the angle of the sunlight indicated that ten o'clock at least had gone by.

It took her eleven times to get up, and the pain in her feet almost made her sink straight back down to the ground. But she clung to the tree's trunk instead, teeth gritted. Slowly, Tea hobbled out of the lonely park. She had a monster body to retrieve.

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Yugi couldn't help but wonder if they were doing the right thing. Backpack clutched in one hand, he stared at the phone in his hand.

"I'm sorry aibou," Yami's regal tones interrupted him. "But if Tea hasn't returned your call yet then it is unlikely she will be doing so in the near future." The former Pharaoh hoisted a bag of his own belongings. "Duke agreed to escort us to the loading dock, miffed though he is about being excluded."

Yugi flinched at these last words, and Yami sighed as he realized his tactless choice of speech. He laid a hand on his smaller counterpart's shoulder. "It is for the best, aibou. Tea will surely come to understand this. Now let us go before we are late, or before Duke unleashes the wrath of his dice upon us."

Yugi smiled, wiped his eyes, and followed his friend out of the game shop without a second look at the phone. After all, it was for the best.

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Tea stared dully at the empty alley. This isn't right, she thought. This just isn't right.

What had been a fifteen minute run the night before, fueled by adrenaline and the freedom from pain accompanied by shock, had this morning proven to be a grueling two hour struggle back through the ancient streets. The people she passed had hurried on by her, shrunken into their bland clothes and uninterrupted lives.

Tea thought of all the times she had been called useless or shallow by her classmates and the enemies her friends fought. It talled up to more times than she could count on fingers and toes both. 'How do they find me useless,' she wondered. 'When no one here will stop for me? I would have stopped. I would have helped. Does that make me weak?'

The people continued to hurry by her, and she wondered if it was common for them to see others in obvious distress, wounded and alone. Had the monster prowled these streets before? Killed on these streets before?

Panting, she had rested against the wall for a moment. 'What number would I have been on its list of victims?' She almost cried again, just thinking about it. 'I need the body to prove my story, otherwise people will just think that my brain has been addled after getting mugged or something.' It was hard, forcing her legs to start moving again. It hurt, and her balance was poor, so that she had to trail her fingers along the wall as she continued.

'I need the body, so people will know that this threat is real.' She dragged herself on, blue eyes wavering in and out. 'I need the body, because that monster was probably not the only one. The body; so that no more faces on the missing notices end up like I almost did.'

But somehow Tea knew, even before she looked down the alleyway where she had killed her would-be killer, that the body would be gone. After all, as she was discovering all over again, life wasn't fair.

Still, she fell to her knees at the sight, body screaming at the jolt, because it always hurts to be proven wrong.

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Yugi boarded the ship that would take them to the contest, smiling at his friends. Joey was there, bickering with Duke and Honda while Mai scoffed on the sidelines. Malik waved to him from a cabin, Ishizu and Rishid at his shoulder. Weevil and Raptor stood to the side, glaring at everyone.

"Well, this shall be interesting then," Yami's voice rang out from behind him, still on the loading ramp.

"It would be more interesting if I could actually get past your huge head onto the ship, Motou," Seto came up behind Yami, looking irritated as usual.

Lightly, Yugi laughed. It would indeed be an interesting journey. His smile fell as he realized he was searching for a head of brown hair, for a cheery smile, and a happy 'Yugi!' ringing out in feminine tones; none of which were there.

'I'll miss you, Tea,' he frowned on the inside and smiled on the out, wishing she could have at least come to see them off.

Five minutes hustled by; the ship pulled out of the harbor.

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"My god....." A child's voice rang out behind Tea, but she couldn't move to look. Everything swam in and out of focus, and a dizzying fear wracked her mind as darkness consumed her sight. She tried to look up, but the ground was the last thing she saw as she fainted completely.

Mokuba stood over her fallen form, eyes glazed in horror. He ran back to the limo. "Driver," he yelled.

"Yes, Master Mokuba?"

"The girl in the alley, put her carefully in the car, then book it to our private hospital."

The driver, a middle-aged man who doubled as a bodyguard, hesitated. "Are you certain Master Seto wouold approve of this?"

"JUST HURRY!" Mokuba screamed.

The driver shook his head, but approached the fallen form. He gently rolled her over, and lost his breath at the sight of the grisly wounds the young girl bore. Without another word, he heaved her up and carried her to the car.

Mokuba crooned kind words to her in the back as they sped down the roads, but the driver knew she couldn't hear them. Grimly, he floored the gas. Seto would probably sack him once he received word of this, but it gave the girl a better chance to live.

Hopefully.

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AN: That is all for this chapter! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Any commentary would be appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tea pulled out her books, sliding in the desk beside Yugi. She wondered when she had gotten to school; her memory laughed at her, somehow out of reach. She smiled at the small tri-haired boy she sat by, but he had no reaction. She wondered what was wrong, wondered why everything in the edge of her vision blurred together, why none of her friends had greeted her.

Then she opened her textbook, trying to read words that scampered away, sliding off the pages and dripping onto the floor, pooling in a luscious black.

* * *

"........unstable heartbeat..........................."

"..................blood loss......................transfuse......"

"......abnormal brain waves..........."

"..might not be in time..........................................."

* * *

Tea tried not to note how her teachers had no faces, that her classmates were always drifting in and out of reality.

She clutched her books to her, feeling them waver the slightest bit at her touch, and hurried to lunch.

In the cafeteria, she stared at a tray of nothing, nothing which everyone else seemed to have no trouble eating. She glanced at Joey, earnestly shoveling empty spoon after empty spon into his mouth. Ryou delicately sipped from a bone-dry cup.

None of her friends had acknowledged her presence.

* * *

"..............need scalpel..........."

"...the heck did she get these wounds...................unnatural...."

".....................cuts..........badly infected.........................."

"..............might........waste of time......"

* * *

Hurrying after her friends, Tea did not care that the school, sky, and land were blandly vivified in tones of gray, that no sun hung overhead.

Where did they go? She could never seem to catch up to them, and slowly they faded from sight. She fell to her knees, because nothing had ever hurt her so bad.

Had it?

For a second, she saw red, she saw a cake on a doorstep, an alley ringed in darkness as a boy called out to her.

Slowly, she clambered up, brown hair brushing in front of her listless blue eyes. 'What......am I doing?'

* * *

".....................losing too much blood..."

"......type test not done.......can't risk transfusion..............."

"........wounds are swelling.........turning black..........."

"Cut out portions..........do we....antidote?"

"..can't identify.....too dangerous....."

* * *

She walked along the empty roads in a daze. Shadows of people passed her, flitted by her over walls and the ground. They ate shadow food from shadow plates, held hands of shadow, laughed shadowy laughs.

Tea moved among them, her feet sinking deeper and deeper in the pavement, until her shins were swallowed by it.

'What am I supposed to do?' In a window, a puppet danced, tutu flaring around it. Beside it lay a smile, pristine on a red cushion with a tag marked SALE.

'What do I......want to do?'

She stared at the backs of her friends. Blinking, she smiled, opened her mouth to call them, and found she didn't want to.

They were clustered around the latest Duel Monsters Tournament poster. They were laughing, talking, riffling through their cards already. There was her place, slightly behind Yugi, between Joey and Tristan. And for the first time, she didn't want to be standing there.

"What do you want?" breathed a voice over her shoulder. "What do you feel like you need to do?"

And Tea looked inside herself and knew, because the answer had been forming in her heart for years on end now, graduating from a grain of malcontent to a pearl that would shove her into a better future.

She looked at her friends again, and she smiled because they were happy. And she knew, that because they were her friends, they would be happy for her as well as she moved forward in her own way, even if it was separate from them.

Yugi turned around and looked at her, and grinned his sheepish, lovable grin, then suddenly they all were smiling at her, running to her, holding her close.

"Ready, then?" asked the voice from behind her. Tea turned and saw her own face, and she trilled out a lilting laugh that could only be a yes.

* * *

Mokuba kept vigil by his friend's body, as he had every day for the long week while the doctors had fought for her life. Her ragged hair fanned out around her head;bandages mummified most of her body.

Many adjectives could be applied to Mokuba Kaiba; naive, messy, rich, impossibly adorable, but never stupid. He knew, no matter what euphemisms the staff applied to Tea's case, that they had no idea if she would live, or how she had incurred such grievous damage. They flitted about her constantly, posturing for the sake of their coveted reputations, but they could not save her from the poison that swirled in her blood. They could not even identify it.

One, after the initial surgery had been performed, had approached him, dark hair in a short bob that bounced around her weary face.

"If she wants to live," she told him bluntly. "Then she might."

Scornfully, he expected her to follow with the customary 'it's all up to her now' line, but she had a different statement in mind.

"Would you help her?" she asked. "Anything that she loves, any friends that she has, bring them to her, and stay by her. On the chance she can feel your presence, you could make all the difference."

And Mokuba had obliged with zeal, bringing in tapes from her house, her books, her blankets, the photo albums of her friends. For seven days, he sat by her, ate by her, talked to her constantly. His throat became raw and his tingue heavy, but the hollows in her cheeks had deepened as well, and Tea's skin paled so that her veins stood out darkly and her wounds, juxtaposed against the whiteness, were all the more ghastly.

"Come on Tea," he whispered. "You saved me from Marik; you helped save the world almost a dozen times: This should be nothing in comparison."

Her father visited once, a tall, handsome man accompanied by a woman in garish make-up and skimpy clothes. He sat by Tea's side for hours in silence as the woman flirted shamelessly with the staff. Curious, Mokuba observed him. His clothes indicated moderate wealth; the rings around his eyes whispered of numerous nights spent awake.

He had brought a bouquet and a small toy animal, which he placed on a small cart.

"Oh Ella," he said quietly, brokenly. "This was never supposed to happen."

He left without ever touching Tea, the woman clinging to his arm and tittering. Mokuba, on an impulse, looked up the parents of his comatose friend. Hiruta Yamata and Elenor Gardner, the latter of which had died six years ago. He threw away the flowers, withered after mere hours, and redoubled his efforts.

He had ballet performances playing on the small hospital TV for her, blaring away top-volume. He found her childhood teddy-bear, and lay it against her arm. Tapes of her friends were played, along with their duels.

But said friends he could not bring to her. He could not bring Tristan or Joey, Mai or Duke or Ryou or Malik. Even Yugi could not be summoned. Along with his brother, they had vanished into another competition, and if he knew them, that meant they were saving the world again.

He didn't know why Tea hadn't gone with them and suspected he might not be very happy when he found out.

"Hey Tea," he said. "When you wake up, maybe we can spend some time together. We can play games, go see movies....I'll even sit still through a dance recital."

Pleadingly, Mokuba gazed at her fragile body, the chest ever so slowly rising and falling. He sniffled, and then he cried.

He cried until his eyes were swollen as melons and his throat throbbed from sobbing, until his whole front was soaked with tears and snot. He cried himself to sleep, and, really, it was Murphy's law that Tea only woke up once he had succumbed to slumber.

She stirred slowly, carefully. A wince succeeded every slight motion, even the curling of her fingers. Hazy from such long slumber, blue eyes straggled open, blinking sluggishly but profusely as their owner orientated herself.

"....Mokuba?..." Vaguely shocked, she stared at the boy, his fuzzy head laying by her feet. Painstakingly, Tea lifted a hand and smoothed it over his dark hair. She took in the teddy bear, the books, the photo albums, blankets, and the 1970's version of 'The Nutcracker'.

"Thank you."

.............

"Come on, Tea! You're almost there!"

Tea smiled at the energetic boy skipping around her, leaning heavily on her walker. Her face was slightly gray, pain saw fit to linger in her eyes, but it was her first time making it all the way down the hall, so she ignored the trivialties. After all, as long as the nurse never discovered her little escapade, she'd be home-free!

She shuffled around and almost groaned: the entrance to her door looked formidably far away. Sensing her distress, Mokuba ceased his jubilance and rested a hand on her own trembling one.

"Do you want me to go get the wheel chair?" he asked quietly.

Heart moved by the sensitive little boy, Tea ruffled his black, messy locks.

"I can make it!" she assured him with her usual bravo. Dubious as ever, probably due to his brother's influence, he propped his hands on his hips, eyebrows disappearing under his bushy bangs.

"Nice," Tea mentioned on his expression. "How long did you practice in front of a mirror?"

With a whoosh of air, he released the stance, matching her slow pace. "A few hours," he admitted sheepishly, but it was worth it to hear her laugh.

"Tea," he embroached upon the subject carefully. "Are you sure that you still don't-"

"Sorry, Mokuba," she smiled artlessly, guilelessly, and thought she might want to look into acting. "I still don't remember what happened."

He slumped discreetly. "No helping that, then." He made an effort to smile, and Tea thought he might want to wait on the acting deal for a few years yet, but appreciated the sweet gesture no less for it. "Don't you worry," he said. "We'll find out who perpetrated such inhuman actions! They won't get away with doing this to you."

He sounded so sure, so confident, that Tea wanted to sweep him away to somewhere safe, so that his innocence would never be lost. How odd, she marveled, that just three weeks ago, she held the same naivety she now admired. It wasn't like the birds didn't sing anymore, but she could never walk by a door without checking inside first, never look at a horror movie with the old glib dismissal, and she ached for the loss of it.

But she refused to fall into constant, wretched paranoia. Shuttering off any doubts she felt when she met the nurses and other patients, Tea closed her heart to xenophobia. People are good, for the most part, she firmly told herself.

And her belief in the inherent goodness of humanity and the world helped her to recover, mentally and physically. Kindness is never a weakness.

* * *

ARE YOU SURE?

YES MIGHTY LORD

THIS IS IMPERMISSIBLE

WHAT MUST WE DO, OH GREAT ONE?

THE GIRL MUST DIE, AS MUST THE BOY.

THE BOY WILL BE DIFFICULT

IT IS NECESSARY. THE GIRL HAS SURELY TOLD HIM OF WHAT OCCURRED.

IT WILL BE DONE, MY MASTER. THEIR BLOOD WILL FLOW IN THE NAME OF OUR ONCE GLORIOUS NATION.

* * *

A month later, Tea went home.

She waved a sad goodbye to Mokuba, who was morosely reciprocating the gesture from within his block long limo- fancily emblazoned with a large KC brandmark. Tea wondered if it was like a robot car, if it could shoot rockets, or fly. More likely, she supposed, it could serve fresh sliced carrots for Mokuba and turn into a dueling arena, since sooner or later everything came back to that.

Hefting her cane, she set off slowly up the path to her front-door. As always, the key lay under the doormat, its letters of WELCOME degraded to E OME. As always, when she stepped through the door, she knew in an instant that no one was home besides herself.

Tea drew in a breath, crushing the bitterness she felt swelling there like a tumor. I can do this, she reminded herself. I will do this.

And she laboriously made her way over to the house's computer. Drawing up the Internet, she searched one word:

Monsters.

* * *

AN: I want to sincerely apologize for how late this is, and I want to thank the kind people who left me reviews who I did not respond to in an e-mail.

Miss Chocolat, ForeverBlue90, Ash, Lightscreener, and Mizuki hikari, I thank you for reading my story and for taking the time to leave a comment.

Once more, I am very sorry for how late this is. My parents are going through a very rough divorce, and I spend a good deal of time helping take care of my niece, since my sister is incapacitated.

I will try to be more punctual, pinkie promise! Happy New Year to you all!


	5. Chapter 5

Tea slammed her head into the desk, emitting a muffled 'ow' a second later. Propping her face on her hand, she morosely scanned the contents of the Internet search results.

'Frankenstein Lives Again!'

'Concerns about Twilight-should Vampires be Role Models?'

'How to Tame Monster Hair'

She groaned, burying her face in her hand.

"What did I expect anyways?" she asked aloud. "Man, I feel pretty lame right now..."

Grabbing her cane, she limped out of the room. She didn't feel up to the long struggle it would require to move downstairs, so she adjourned to the bathroom to have a confrontation with the mirror.

It was a daily battle, this confrontation. She'd limp her way before this silver judge and observe the changes wrecked upon her person, and then the battle would start. Not one against the mirror, oh no. It was a battle Tea waged against herself, against the insecurity she felt in her own appearance.

She had never before considered herself vain. Indeed, she had often felt unkindly towards girls that had always been bemoaning their weight or their features. All those girls who would pinch at their stomachs in front of mirrors and lather concealer over the slightest pimple, she had never empathized with them, though she had tried to give words of comfort. She had thought she was simply above that pettiness. Now she realized that it had just been her exceptional fortune to be born with good looks and to be part of a lifestyle that kept her in shape.

Now, as Tea fought herself in the mirror, she realized she had more in common with those girls than she had thought. Her hair hung in jagged strips around her face; one side proved significantly shorter than the other. Muscle and weight had fallen away over the past month. She wasn't anorexic, thank goodness, but her fat percentage held a dangerously low number. Dark shadows bloomed under both of her eyes. Where her wounds had healed, scars started to form. They peeked out from under her clothing, long pink lines that delineated where she had incurred grievous injury. She didn't feel pretty, like she used to

She pulled a few funny faces to cheer herself up. It didn't matter what she looked like. She wouldn't let it matter. You were who you made yourself, and Tea intended to be happy, healthy, and strong inside and out.

Although, her hair did need serious help.

With this thought in mind, she slid a pair of scissors out of a drawer and snipped away her hair, and with it a bit of her pretention fell away as well.

When she finished her hair hung close to her face. Now where was it longer than three inches. It resembled a pixie cut, though it was obviously done by an amateur. Tea liked it well enough though.

She cleaned the straggles of her brunette hair and she threw them away without a qualm of regret. Maybe she should try the library instead...

* * *

Mokuba cheered, enthralled by the flickering scenes on the television. His big brother had just won another match! Now he, Yugi, and the mysterious host of the competition were the only ones remaining. (Whoever didn't see that coming, I envy your naivety. FourKids stole mine.) Scrambling up from the couch, he rushed to the plasma TV and ejected the tape of the tournament. He couldn't wait to show Tea; she would be so excited!

Hair in its perpetual disarray, he flew down a lengthy flight of stairs into the main hall of the Kaiba mansion. Though he had tried rigorously to get Tea to stay there with him, she had declined on the grounds that he had already been to so much trouble on her account. So, he had instead taken to visiting her every other day at her house, often bringing food and movies.

For the first time, he had someone with which to wait out the long periods of time when his brother was away. He had always liked Tea, but now he cherished her company like never before. He spent more time with her than anyone else. She always welcomed him, had a smile for him as soon as he appeared on her doorstep. He'd bring over movies and games, and occasionally schoolwork he didn't understand. Tea proved to be humorous and witty, something that he had suspected before but never been able to clearly see at the time. After all, most of the time he was around her before, the focus was on their respective loved ones: his brother and her friends.

His big brother would always, always be first in his heart. But Tea was quickly nudging her way into second place, providing a different sort of warmth than his brother. Seto held a special place in his heart for Mokuba, but Tea had an full auditorium of people in her heart, and there were always extra seats. It made for a pleasant and informative change.

Of course, he could never quite forget the way she had looked, crumpled on the ground in that alley, blood slowly pooling around her. That had been an unpleasant wake-up call. Suddenly, even though Mokuba himself was safe, he comprehended that the same could not be said for the people he cared about. Sure, he had become inured to the customary threats to his soul and the world, but mundane crime had never been a concern. Now , he wondered if he had almost been naive in his perception of the world's darker side. There had always been some hero to take up the fight, to rescue them all. He had grown complacent on the sidelines, becoming contented with a background role.

Tea called him her hero.

* * *

The library had been around for a while, long enough for the plaster to crack and the brick walls surrounding it to undergo several coats of paint- both due to exposure and graffiti.

It served as a cornerstone, a marking point. From Tea's house to the library, the path ambled through pleasant, albeit banal, neighborhoods. Past the library though, the scene changed. The houses hunched lower to the ground behind foreboding fences, and the people on the fractured pavement hunched inside baggy clothes, eyes peering out, wary and hard, from their refuges on sunken faces.

Tea stepped into the library panting. Swiping a hand over her brow, she leaned heavily on the sturdy cane, grateful that the place was relatively empty. It was another lesson in humility, this. She grew accustomed to the pity and the shock on the faces around her, the whispers and the darting glances. She had always been in excellent physical shape, but now she had to fight to go two blocks without toppling over from exhaustion and pain.

Wobbling, she heaved herself down in front of a computer and began her search. Two hours later, she had amassed a pile of books, but another hour later proved them all useless to her. By the time four hours had flown past, she knew that the library, as well, had nothing that could help her.

What did I expect? She again asked herself glumly, galumphing out the doors. She left an irate librarian behind to sort through all the books she had discarded, but Tea could not move herself to care. How am I supposed to do this, any of this, when I have no where to start?

The sun glazed the far horizon in clouded sugars of red and gold. Tea focused on the beauty of the scene, drawing it into herself, letting it dispell her worries. If there was something as beautiful as that sunset to be enjoyed, then it was her fair duty to enjoy it.

She limped onwards, headed for her empty home. Her father was out with his newest beau, a redhead from some exotic place with a face more of makeup than skin. She didn't expect him back for at least a month.

But hey, the sunset sure was pretty, right? And when the first stars stammered out their shy presence in the growing darkness, that was lovely too.

* * *

Yami gasped, staring disbelievingly at the fallen form of his enemy. It had been a long battle- he had almost lost faith in the Heart of the Cards. Through a serendipitous turn of events, the long lost daughter of the villain had appeared and resurrected the heart of her father. Yami had then immolated the remaining evil controlling the man's body, and all had resolved nicely.

Or nicely to a certain extent, at least.

A few days later, they headed back, boarding the same ship that had brought them there. Yami couldn't help but feel the situation was surreal; it was more like they had lost the battle than won it.

Head hanging, he knelt by Yugi's bedside. Disconsolately, he placed a damp cloth on the boy's feverish forehead. The man they had defeated wrought his power through manipulations of balance, and he had been able to transfer any damage Yami incurred while dueling to physical damage to the hikari.

Rising, the former Pharaoh departed from the room, emerging above the cabins onto the deck. Moonlight ran in silver streamers over the mast and the railings. On quiet feet, Yami stepped over to a tall figure gazing out off the starboard side.

"Has he left his room yet?" His deep tones, hushed as they were, seemed a transgression on the night's sanctity.

Ishizu shook her head, sorrow in her blue eyes. In a rush, he recalled another set of blue eyes, but pushed away their image.

"He has not," the priestess replied. "And Malik still refuses to speak to Rishid or myself." She turned back to the gently undulating waves. "I cannot help but feel cheated on my brother's behalf. This was all supposed to be settled long ago."

Yami gripped the railing tightly, overcome with self-recrimination. "I'm sorry, Ishizu. Hopefully, fate will explain itself soon."

How could he have known the overwhelming power of that man, the Scales Master? (Shaadi had been quite indignant at that title.) Not only could he machinate light and dark, he could also twist polar emotions, like confidence and guilt. Even when Yami had discovered this, he hadn't comprehended the extent the man could take his powers to-hadn't a clue that the Scales Master would be enough to bring back Marik, Malik's self-made darkness.

The Scales Master had also been able to twist the very emotions of Joey and Tristan, leaving them a psychological mess. Tristan was still in a coma, partly due to the villain's machinations and more so due to the blow Marik dealt him on the back of his head. Marik, cackling madly, had not lingered longer than a moment after his re-emergence into the world. The moment his feet finally coalesced into being, he made for the shadows. Tristan, loyal but with misplaced bravado, had lunged for the psychotic, only to be smashed in the back of his head by Marik's fist.

Yami worried that the blow had inflicted more damage than the mere physical impact, that Marik had used his powers against Tristan. A simple punch should not have impacted the outgoing brunnette as much as it did.

Someone else with brown hair drifted across his mind. Brown hair, blue eyes, a moral backbone like steel.

He missed Tea, as much as he might miss a limb. Her absence unsettled their group, and he commonly noted the propensity of himself and his companions to look for her, or make a comment to her, only to realize painfully the void where she should be, and of, course, where she wasn't.

Yami held in sigh. He would be glad to see her again.

Far in the distance, lights glimmered over the water. Domino City would be reached by morning.

He nodded to Ishizu, quietly wishing her a good night he knew she would not receive. Turning, he made his way back to the cabin he and Yugi shared. His counterpart was awake, staring through glazed eyes at the ceiling.

"Yugi," Yami murmured, dropping to his knees by the boy. "Can you hear me?"

Slowly, the gentle amethyst eyes traveled to his face. "Yami?" the smaller one whispered. He coughed hoarsely. "I told you we should have brought Tea."

The pharoh blinked, wondering what brought this on. "Is it not a good thing that we didn't?" he questioned. "Imagine how hurt she would have bee, seeing as how you and I ended up."

"She would've been the best off." Yugi mumbled. "After all, the Scales Master wouldn't have been able to manipulate a heart as strong as hers." His eyes fluttered shut. With the boy's breathing lost in the sound of his own ragged breathes, Yami pondered the small one's words.

Tea was strong. He would never deny that. But at the same time, she could never compete with himself or any of the other males on their team, not in strength nor in wits. He marveled that even fever could open Yugi's mind to such an idea.

Crossing to the window, he sighed heavily. He didn't care to imagine how hurt Tea could have-no, would have been had she accompanied them. He was only grateful that she had remained in Domino City, safe and sound.

* * *

A/N: WRONG!!!! Sorry it's taken so long; I promise I haven't abandoned you guys. Life has just been really hard lately, with my parent's divorce, my sister's ailment, and my fractious, though adorable, one year old niece.

Any comments are welcome, even angry rants about how long I've taken!


	6. Chapter 6

AN: I do not own anything of the original YuGiOh. If I did, there would be little to no card games, unless they involved lots of yelling. Ever played Slamwich? (I also do not own Slamwich)

...

Tea was breathing heavily by the time she reached her front door. Easing herself down to the mat, she rested on the door step, again losing herself in the beauty above. She noticed, for what seemed like the first time, how exquisite the blooms in her window garden were. Their perfume floated in the air, sweet and lazy. She inhaled deeply before rising and entering her house.

"And where have you been?"

Shocked, Tea looked up into the eyes of her father. "What?" She blurted out. "Weren't you going to be gone for another month?"

The man frowned, sweeping a shock of hair from his forehead. "That's hardly a good way to greet your father." He informed her. "Go to your room."

Tea looked at him, fury blowing a loud trumpet in the corner of her mind. She tried to stuff her anger away, to muster up some happiness at his prescence, but that was something the her of before would have done.

'What do I want?'

Well, right now she craved the ability to just sock him in the face. How dare he? And when he wasn't even home half the time? A soft chuckling directed her gaze to the right of her father- a red haired woman with voluptuous curves lounged against the wall there. Her red nails clinked against a champagne glass, and her dress rode halfway up her thighs before slitting on the sides.

She couldn't have been over twenty.

Tea's anger died then, a sad little death on the inside. She just felt empty. She didn't want to look at her father or the pathetic woman he currently toyed with, although she would dearly have liked to know what happened to both of them that they turned out in such a way. Stumping past the pair on her cane, she almost missed the words her father threw at her back.

"That child dropped by earlier-that Kaiba brat. I sent him off. I don't want you hanging around him all the time. It's embarrassing."

The woman laughed. "Yes. How sad it must be for one's only friend to be-what? three feet tall."

Oh. Tea thought dully. Now he's into conceited women. Wouldn't it be sadder to only be in a relationship with someone just because they give you money? Wasn't it more embarrassing to have a father who paid women to sleep with him? She didn't say either though; for all she knew her father's...friend might have an honest need for the money. Her father usually wasn't so harsh, so she'd let his behavior tonight slide. Maybe he had imbibed one too many drinks.

She limped up to her room, planning on apologizing to Mokuba tomorrow. She would let things be for tonight, but if her father tried to get in her way tomorrow...

Well, she was amazed by how much he'd already gotten away with in her life, so whatever she doled out would be sanctioned by karma.

It stunned her, how much she had changed inside, not just out.

...

IT IS NEEDFUL TO STRIKE SOON.

WHAT, THEN, ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

SOMETHING TROUBLES ME. SHE AND HER COMPANIONS HAVE THE SHADOW'S TOUCH. SOME OF THEM MAY EVEN BE CHILDREN OF THE SHADOWS.

THEN WE MUST MOVE IMMEDIATELY. LEAVE THE SMALLER ONE OUT OF THE EQUATION. NO ONE WILL BELIEVE HIM EVEN IF HE DISCLOSES THE SECRET.

HOW SHOULD WE PROCEED?

LEARN FROM HISTORY...

...

Mokuba slouched in the backseat of the limo, peering unhappily out the black tinted window. He really didn't care for Tea's father. He might not be anything in comparison to Gozaburo, but he still didn't count as a parent. Turning his eyes to the ceiling of the car, Mokuba wondered whether Tea's mother had been the reason Tea herself had still turned out so well.

He was so deep in his brooding that the sudden tapping on the window made him jump in surprise. Turning, he blinked up into Tea's smiling blue eyes. The girl had her bookbag slung over one shoulder and her opposing hand clenched about the cane.

"Anyone in there?" she smiled.

The bodyguard leaned back from the front seat. "Do I need to clean a bug off the side of the car, sir?"

Mokuba held back a scowl. "Only if you want to clean out your desk while you're at it." Ignoring the man's hurried apologies, he smiled sweetly at Tea and rolled down his window.

"You alright, Tea?" he called, checking for any bruises or shadows in her eyes, for although he didn't think her father would hit her, he wouldn't take chances. She laughed at his query.

"Now shouldn't I be asking you that?" She sobered. "I can't apologize enough for my father's behavior, Mokuba. Usually, he hosts guests much more graciously." She gave him a strained smile. "Don't take anything he said seriously."

Mokuba lost some of his anxiety at that smile. Part of him had been worried that what Tea's father had said was true, that Tea no longer wished to see him. It made him realize how close he had grown to Tea. She wasn't a big sister to him, no, he had, needed, and wanted only one sibling. She treated him like an equal, acknowledging the range of his brilliant young mind, honestly considering everything he said. In some ways, he would be sad to have Yami and the others come back. He didn't like to think that most of Tea's time would once again consumed by her other friends. He still would be relieved to see them again though, because some of the last messages he had gotten from his brother boded ill. He was already preparing a mental list of what to do in anticipation of several various scenarios.

A light bop to his forehead snapped him out of his worried musings. "Hey-hey! Are you in there?" Tea waved a hand in front of his face. "Come on now, do I really have to give you a wet willy?"

"Eugh!" Mokuba jumped, then laughed along with her. "I'd really prefer it if you didn't. Oh!" His already large eyes widened as a forgotten strand of though reconnected in his brain. "Aren't you excited? They're coming back today!"

Her lips quirked in an odd set of emotions before stretching out into a gentle smile. "That's wonderful!" she chimed. "I've worried over those dolts for a while now...Happy to be getting your brother back?"

Mokuba grinned, the enormity of the joyous expression speaking for itself. Tea laughed. "If I didn't check my calender this morning, I'd think it was Christmas Eve just by looking at your face, the plants and temperature regardless!"

He chuckled. "Want a ride, Tea? I'd be happy to give you a lift!"

At the gratitude in her eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

"My hero!" She sent him a smile that made the rest of the world fade out into bashful pastels. She wasn't the most beautiful girl, but her emotions, so strong and gracious, transformed her into something a touch beyond physical beauty. Looking at her smile, Mokuba knew with a flash of clarity that she would be beautiful as an young adult, and as a middle adult, and even as wrinkles festooned on her face, she would still be radiant.

The moment passed as most moments did-too quickly and leaving one wistful.

"I think I'll walk though," Tea said, gripping her cane more securely. "I want to take every chance I can to improve." She struck a wobbly stance, but the determination in her eyes showed a truer strength.

"Good luck!" Mokuba bade her. She waved cheerily, and he watched her increasingly distant form as he drove away until he could no longer discern the movement of that hand.

Tea waited for a few minutes after the limo had vanished from sight before she began moving. She was probably going to be late to school, but she could afford to be lax about it. It didn't, like many other things, matter as much as it used to.

In fact, she decided to take the whole day off. While it had been a struggle to catch up on all the work she had missed during her stay in the hospital, she had grown used to teaching herself quickly after skipping out so much with Yugi and the others. She would wander around for a bit, then proceed to the docks to meet her friends.

She wondered why her hand hurt, until she glanced down and saw that her knuckles were white thriugh the force of her grip on her cane. Chuckling at her own silliness, Tea eased her fingers. She sought out a pleasant spot, finding one to her liking on a low brick wall protected from the heat by the shade of a graceful oak. She sat on that brick wall, and she put her cane down, and she thought.

Seeing her friends again...was she ready? Tea didn't want to avoid them, but she had pride, a pride demanded of all who lived in order to preserve themselves.

Tea did not want to come crawling back to them. She had worked hard to dig herself out of the cycle of her past few years. After Yugi solved the puzzle, sparking the catalyst for their supernatural adventures, she had gotten lost in the lives of her friends, putting aside her own life in order to be the backup for theirs.

And she had lost years of herself following them, doing all she could for them, and it was only natural, because she was their friend and she loved them. But she had learned a new lesson recently, that one had to love oneself as well.

She had to chase her own shooting stars, the only thing was, she wasn't sure she could see their tails anymore.

In some ways, Tea feared the return of her friends. She feared that all her revelations of the past months would have been for naught, that she would just be sucked back into habit. And a little bit of her was angry as well. She would never fault the others for her injuries, but how could they only see her as baggage in their lives, in their dreams, when she had put hers on hold for them?

Of course, Joey and Tristan weren't the brightest bulbs; they probably hadn't considered it. She had no way of judging what Mai, Duke, and all the others had thought of her. She wouldn't try to either-it was one of those things which just stopped being important.

Yami had been so against her coming, more so than any of the rest. Buried in her contemplations, Tea narrowed her blue eyes. Formerly, she had idolized the Pharaoh, exalting him in her own mind to inhuman status. In ancient Egypt, that had been what he was- the living god Horus, son of Osiris. And Tea had been so awestruck by his confidence, his poise, his power...

And her admiration had been another casualty of that dark alley. It was just as dead to her as that monster was. He, Yami...he wasn't a god. Not to her. To Ishizu, she supposed he was, and to the rest of the Ishtars- well, aside from Malik, maybe. But to her, he would only be human, arrogant, occasionally bumbling, and stubborn; the Egyptian gods had never been her gods anyways.

Yugi's refusal to let her along had cut the deepest. They had been friends the longest; they had known each other for years. How could he not have trusted her?

Sometimes Tea wished that Yugi had solved the puzzle a few years later than he had. Sure, it had been convenient timing for saving the world, but it had set Yugi back someways. Suddenly, he had gained new friends, a reputation, a spirit living in his body, and a charge to protect all of humanity, and through it all he had never really learned to be his own independent person. His current life might involve the things he held a passion for, but he had never owned the chance to grasp them for himself; to work for them himself.

The question was: would she regret not going to the docks?

The answer: yes. There would be time later to address the wrongs that had been dealt to her.

She kicked back her feet, swinging up fully onto the wall. The sky was blue and perfect, and the clouds paddling through its expanse simply begged her perusal.

For about an hour, she amused herself with the caprices of the atmosphere. Feeling her stomach's rising mutiny, Tea eventually rose, dusting herself off and re-gripping her cane.

"Let's see," she mused. "I know there's a restaurant around here somewhere..." She glanced about, sniffing the air for any stray aromas. She saw a young man standing near her. Pushing away the fear that instinctively flared, Tea ambled over to him, forcing herself to push away anxiety. Just because she had gone through a horrible experience, she didn't intend to live the rest of her life haunted by it.

"Excuse me," she called. He jerked, so Tea knew he had heard her. However, instead of replying, he started walking away.

Rude sort, thought Tea peevishly. What a thing to do. She turned and started away herself. However, footsteps behind her made her pause.

"Sorry," wheezed a voice. Tea froze. She knew that voice, knew she knew it, but where?

Rex Raptor smiled at her. "Sorry," he panted out again. "I just wasn't sure whether I should talk to you or run like blazes in case that Yugi kid showed up with you."

Tea blinked, a bit stunned by the appearance of her old acquaintance. "It's fine," she mumbled, very aware of her scares and her cane. "I, um, just wanted to know if you knew of any place to eat around here."

"Oh!" exclaimed Rex. "An eatery. Right."

Well, that was a curious way of terming it. Tea gave no exterior sign of her curiosity, only subtly tried to peer at his eyes and forehead to see if, yet again, he had been inhabited by a menacing something. The Orichalcos version of him had a dead giveaway, after all. He appeared normal, or at least as normal as someone with his hair could be.

"I am familiar with a nice one just a few blocks away," he smiled. "Care to join me for lunch? My treat."

Tea contemplated refusing, but reminded herself of her resolution to live life without the taint of perpetual fear. Ignoring the dismay curling up in the back of her mind, she smiled courteously.

"It would be my pleasure." He smiled at her.

Tea followed him down the street, making pleasant and meaningless small-talk. They passed two girls, one of whom turned and stared after them for a bit.

"Do you think that girl is OK?" she asked her friend. "Why was she talking to herself like that?"

Her friend shrugged. "She must have been talking on the phone or something."

Placated by this answer, the first girl nodded. Both parties continued along, although one was in significantly more peril than the other.


End file.
